The Vilisar Times

THIS AND THAT
Tuesday, 13 September 2005

Being forced to speak Spanish with Simon, who is patience itself with our struggles with the language, is good for us. But it can be problematical when there is something important to impart. I thought yesterday, for example, that somebody is going to ride here today to talk to Roberto. I am sure I got that straight from Simon yesterday. This morning Simon says, no, the person is coming by horseback tomorrow! I have already imparted this to Roberto who was coming back here today anyway, I guess. Since it’s a three-hour ride over here and another three hours back through the mountains, I hope the visitor is not coming in vain. Good that Roberto is coming today anyway. I assume he will be staying tomorrow so I guess everything will work out.

We have been expecting Roberto since last Tuesday. He did in fact pay a brief visit, arriving after dark last Thursday night, after driving the washed-out ranch road in the dark, wading the river with Levi, his six-year-old, on his back, walking the last half mile up the hill to the house, and arriving wet and tired about 2200. (See blog for 09Sep2005.) He left again before sun-up with Levi and Simon. So, strangely, he has not seen the ranch in daylight for a couple of weeks. He has been off in Chihuahua and Cuauhtémoc selling cattle and generally taking care of business. (Cindy, his wife, has been travelling in the U.S.A. with Levi, their four-year-old, and won’t be back for another week. At the moment she is snowed-in in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Man! These people sure get around! She will be in Salt Lake City in a few days.

It would be good if Bob arrived soon since we have no more fresh foods and even some other items like powdered milk are just about out. We drafted a grocery list for him but are a little unsure how many mouths we shall need to provide for (the ranchers and their children? hired hands? The only ones we know for sure are Simon and ourselves) and we don’t know for how long we need to provision since we don’t know when the next shopping expedition will be. And every attempt at shopping has to be regarded as an expedition given the condition of the roads and our remoteness.

Remote though it is, the ranch, of course, is not self-sufficient. We could start using the wood-burning range and slaughtering the animals for food, I guess. (I know where I would start too! The first to go would be Macbeth, the orange rooster that starts voice exercises about two hours before first light. The early bird gets the burn!) Cooking is normally done using propane brought in from outside and most fresh vegetables are bought at a store. I wonder about making beer on the ranch. I notice amongst the cookbooks in the kitchen a book about home-brewing. Must check it out.

There is a huge garden but, except for a few tomato plants near the house, not at present enough manpower to keep it going. It’s pretty much overgrown. For somebody with ambition, however, gardening here would be great. A friend of Cindy and Bob’s is an expert in sustainable gardening. He is expected in a few days for an extended visit and to set up a garden that will be sustainable in these climes. That would be fantastic. Sounds pretty interesting and I’m eager to meet him. They are even thinking of planting a vineyard. Since the Romans planted vineyards in cold Germany and England, which is much farther north than here, it should be practicable at Rancho el Nogal. The garden is on the south-facing slope running from the ranchhouse to the river. The soil looks well-drained since the soil here is very porous. The rock and gravel should retain the sun’s heat early and late in the year. Not sure how fertile the soil is, however. The steep banks of the Rhine, the Moselle, the Main and the Ahr are basically shale, and vintners on the Moselle and the Rhine add a lot to enrich the soils and grow grapes for some of the world’s best wines.

I just heard a loud squeak from the WC in the ranchhouse. The regular toilet has at some time been replaced with a composting toilet (see blog from 04Sep05 for a wonderful treatise, if not treatment, of sewage at Rancho el Nogal). Kathleen was just reaching into the bag of sawdust, which is thrown into the toilet when you are finished. Apparently there was something alive in there. A bright green toad jumped out over her hand and onto the wall and stopped to stare at her.

posted by rjb,
1:08 pm

<$BlogRSDURL$>

		News From Ron and Kathy Bird__
For more pictures of Ron and Kathy Bird and the Vilisar, see these beautiful photos by Albert Pang Click here to e-mail Ron Click here to e-mail Kathy Archives January 2004 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 February 2007 March 2007 Vilisar Translation Expert German-English translation available; business and finance our specialty. SachverstÃ¤ndige Deutsch-Englische Ãbersetzung; GeschÃ¤ft und Finanz unser Spezialgebiet.	Wednesday, September 14, 2005 THIS AND THAT Tuesday, 13 September 2005 Being forced to speak Spanish with Simon, who is patience itself with our struggles with the language, is good for us. But it can be problematical when there is something important to impart. I thought yesterday, for example, that somebody is going to ride here today to talk to Roberto. I am sure I got that straight from Simon yesterday. This morning Simon says, no, the person is coming by horseback tomorrow! I have already imparted this to Roberto who was coming back here today anyway, I guess. Since it’s a three-hour ride over here and another three hours back through the mountains, I hope the visitor is not coming in vain. Good that Roberto is coming today anyway. I assume he will be staying tomorrow so I guess everything will work out. We have been expecting Roberto since last Tuesday. He did in fact pay a brief visit, arriving after dark last Thursday night, after driving the washed-out ranch road in the dark, wading the river with Levi, his six-year-old, on his back, walking the last half mile up the hill to the house, and arriving wet and tired about 2200. (See blog for 09Sep2005.) He left again before sun-up with Levi and Simon. So, strangely, he has not seen the ranch in daylight for a couple of weeks. He has been off in Chihuahua and Cuauhtémoc selling cattle and generally taking care of business. (Cindy, his wife, has been travelling in the U.S.A. with Levi, their four-year-old, and won’t be back for another week. At the moment she is snowed-in in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Man! These people sure get around! She will be in Salt Lake City in a few days. It would be good if Bob arrived soon since we have no more fresh foods and even some other items like powdered milk are just about out. We drafted a grocery list for him but are a little unsure how many mouths we shall need to provide for (the ranchers and their children? hired hands? The only ones we know for sure are Simon and ourselves) and we don’t know for how long we need to provision since we don’t know when the next shopping expedition will be. And every attempt at shopping has to be regarded as an expedition given the condition of the roads and our remoteness. Remote though it is, the ranch, of course, is not self-sufficient. We could start using the wood-burning range and slaughtering the animals for food, I guess. (I know where I would start too! The first to go would be Macbeth, the orange rooster that starts voice exercises about two hours before first light. The early bird gets the burn!) Cooking is normally done using propane brought in from outside and most fresh vegetables are bought at a store. I wonder about making beer on the ranch. I notice amongst the cookbooks in the kitchen a book about home-brewing. Must check it out. There is a huge garden but, except for a few tomato plants near the house, not at present enough manpower to keep it going. It’s pretty much overgrown. For somebody with ambition, however, gardening here would be great. A friend of Cindy and Bob’s is an expert in sustainable gardening. He is expected in a few days for an extended visit and to set up a garden that will be sustainable in these climes. That would be fantastic. Sounds pretty interesting and I’m eager to meet him. They are even thinking of planting a vineyard. Since the Romans planted vineyards in cold Germany and England, which is much farther north than here, it should be practicable at Rancho el Nogal. The garden is on the south-facing slope running from the ranchhouse to the river. The soil looks well-drained since the soil here is very porous. The rock and gravel should retain the sun’s heat early and late in the year. Not sure how fertile the soil is, however. The steep banks of the Rhine, the Moselle, the Main and the Ahr are basically shale, and vintners on the Moselle and the Rhine add a lot to enrich the soils and grow grapes for some of the world’s best wines. I just heard a loud squeak from the WC in the ranchhouse. The regular toilet has at some time been replaced with a composting toilet (see blog from 04Sep05 for a wonderful treatise, if not treatment, of sewage at Rancho el Nogal). Kathleen was just reaching into the bag of sawdust, which is thrown into the toilet when you are finished. Apparently there was something alive in there. A bright green toad jumped out over her hand and onto the wall and stopped to stare at her. posted by *rjb,* *1:08 pm* Comments: Post a Comment
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